Bar codes and other types of visual indicia can be used to facilitate transactions of various kinds. For example, coupons use bar codes to represent consumer promotions, discounts, or free items. Bar codes are also used to identify products on a unique or non-unique basis (for example, as a Universal Product Code or UPC), which allows for quick identification of products at a point of sale. Bar codes have also been used for other types of transactions. For example, bar codes can be used to authenticate concert tickets, gift cards, or returns (e.g., with a bar code printed on a receipt).
Recently, digital bar codes have been incorporated into mobile applications that permit customers to redeem limited items such as gift cards, loyalty cards, coupons, boarding passes, and tickets, by displaying a bar code associated with the customer on the display of the mobile device. However, such indicia, alone, generally provide little to no security. For example, bar codes can easily be copied and used without the permission of the person who legally possesses the bar code. This causes loss for the possessor because it can be associated with something of value like a gift card, discount, or loyalty reward. If another person is able to copy the bar code, the other person can redeem that value against the wishes of the rightful owner. Due to this lack of security and other deficiencies, existing bar code-enabled applications and their underlying systems and methods are ill-suited for adaptation to high-risk payment transactions, including those that involve funds in a user's financial account, such as a credit or debit card a customer may use at a traditional point of sale.
Thus, a solution enhancing the security of mobile payments is needed.